A review by suzpap
Wild Place by Christian White

5.0

I felt like I was watching a movie reading this, the way Christian portrays characters makes them so easy to visualise and connect with.
I went through a variety of emotions reading this book, sadness, anger, annoyance (I hope Ellie got some sort of comeuppance for being so nosy!), acceptance.. but mostly shock and disbelief.
When Nancy nodded at Owen taking the gun, it was like she was prepared for him to commit suicide and didn’t have any fight left in her, it broke my heart!
Then when Marty (sorry, Martin) was revealed as the stalker I was like ‘hmm okay, didn’t see it coming but I understand why’ but then he confronted his dad about the affair and I audibly screamed ‘WHAT’ - I know trusting the source of the story is a rookie error but not Tom, an affair with a student? I was shocked.
I loved that the ‘satanic cult’ played a big role but it was tied up in such a wholesome way with Sean just seeing the symbol as one of protection. Reading ‘his shot severed Sean’s brain stem’ was so harsh and I absolutely loved it, he let Sean get his redemption, he let us fall that little bit in love with his character and feel empathy for him as he was just as broken and damaged as the rest of us, and then took it all away - it was done so smoothly and perfectly, it was shocking and one of the best parts of the book IMO (still SO sad!)
Then we get to Connie, who knew her husband knew she killed a teenage girl, and they both pretended like it was nothing and they just worked-out to Jane Fonda together? WHAT?! I re-read this page five times, I would of loved to deep dive into Connie’s recollection of the events over a few chapters! Of course her being elusive is an amazing plot within itself, and the tape told us what happened and I’m sure more words probably wouldn’t of added to the story, I guess I’m still grappling with the thought - and it makes me think how my partner would react in the same situation (his storyline’s are always thought provoking in the best way)
I equally hate and love Christian’s cliff hanging endings, what does Nancy do with the tape? Does she survive having lost a daughter and a husband? (Albeit soon to be ex) Does Sharon truely leave it all alone or does the need for the truth chip away at her? Does Marty survive with the guilt of knowing his dads secret? I guess being set in 89’ means no DNA testing in AUS, but surely something would lead back to Connie, or at least not Sean?
I would like to think Sharon locked away all part of her past life and when Nancy inevitably came rushing to her with the tape of Tom, the case would be closed with Sean named as the killer and she couldn’t re-open the case if she wanted to, so she walked away. Sharon deserved more, I hope in the book universe she’s settled down somewhere far away enjoying life, and I hope Nancy got a chance to heal - if not I hope she’s with Tracie.

I feel like everyone was fighting their own demons this whole book as well as contributing to the overall plot - I don’t know how Christian does it but god, it makes for good reading!